MICROM 496: Microbiology Senior Capstone Thesis

In order to complete the microbiology major at UW, every student must complete a research thesis. Students who work in labs write typically write their theses on the work they're doing there, but if that's not possible, they complete a library research paper instead. Because I was lucky enough to work in Julie Overbaugh's lab at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, I completed this requirement by writing a paper about my research in formal scientific journal format. My final draft can be found below.

The prospect of this project was daunting from the start. Before writing this paper, I had no substantial experience with scientific writing, and was anxious about living up to the standards set for me by Julie and past research interns in our lab. But once I dove in, I realized that though the length and depth of the paper were intimidating, I had been preparing to write it throughout my time at Fred Hutch. I knew a lot more about the big picture of the research I had been working on than I thought, and once I realized this fact, the writing became less cumbersome. Writing the introductory sections involved significant research, but I knew what I needed to cover and what information I needed to find, The methods and results sections were also more natural than I expected, because I was really just explaining what I had been doing in the lab quarter after quarter and then describing what I had found as a result of those experiments. After writing the other sections, the discussion followed as an elaboration on what exactly the results meant and how they fit in with the background information provided in the introduction.

Once I had the final draft in my hand, I was quite proud of the work I had done. It was very fulfilling to put forth a piece that resembled the kinds of papers I had read in my classes, though written with a more rough and inexperienced hand. Perhaps most fulfilling of all however, was the fact that I had gained experience that would continue to be relevant throughout my career in medicine and research. This paper embodies research I have spent years working on and my first attempt at writing about that research in a professional manner. I believe it represents my understanding of the foundational techniques underlying my research as well as my ability to synthesize knowledge and draw logical conclusions from data. I chose to post this particular paper here not only because i am proud of what I accomplished but also because it represents a piece of work that serves as a transition between my undergraduate life and future.